Sunday December 20th, 2020
Memorize: John 15:14 New King James Versions (NKJV)
« You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. »
Read: John 11:11-36 New Living Translations (NLT)
11 Then he said,
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”
12 The disciples said,
“Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!”
13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.
14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
16 Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples,
“Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”
17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.
18 Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem,
19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.
20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him.
But Mary stayed in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her,
“Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said,
“he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.
Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,”
she told him.
“I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God,
the one who has come into the world from God.”
28 Then she returned to Mary.
She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”
29 So Mary immediately went to him.
30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.
31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep.
So they followed her there.
32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said,
“Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.
34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Then Jesus wept.
36 The people who were standing nearby said,
“See how much he loved him!”
Message:
It is a great thing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
It is however even much better to be a disciple and a friend of Jesus at the same time.
In the course of His earthly ministry, Jesus began to develop a more intimate relationship with some of His disciples and he called them friends.
“13 The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends.
14 You are my friends if you obey my commandments.
15 I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father.
John 15:13-15 GWT
A classic example of a friend of Jesus is Lazarus. In John 11:11 NKJV, Jesus said
« Our friend Lazarus sleeps »
This level of intimacy was emphasized by John 11:35 which says Jesus wept.
The Lord God helped me to develop such an intimate relationship with Him that I began to see Him as My Daddy and not just Our Father. This offended some people who wondered why I would be calling God Daddy. If God is their Father and He happens to be my Daddy, what is the problem?
My prayer for you today is that the Holy Spirit will assist you to develop a relationship with Him that would give you the boldness to call the Almighty God Daddy in the mighty name of Jesus.
To be admitted into the circle of friends of Jesus, you need to fulfill only one condition as set in John 15:14 CEV
« And you are my friends, if you obey me. »
The moment you begin to walk in obedience to the commandments of God, you have become a friend of Jesus.
His commandments are not hard to obey or burdensome to live by.
He also promises to give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30 ).
Prayer point: Father, please help me to be obedient to Your commandments forever, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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